Worth the investment?

I am typically a very anti-massively-multiplayer for the simple fact that virtually every massively multiplayer game I've seen is just some form of kill, level up, repeat. No point, no end goal, no real changes to the environment. However, after only a brief time researching this particular game, it seems to me that it truly offers nearly endless possibilities in terms of enjoyment and creativity. Also, even though I am normally very anti-monthly fee for any single game, the previously mentioned possibilities of this game seem to make the initial ten dollar fee seem not only cheap, but an outright steal for the consumer; the additional fees for land ownership also seem extremely reasonable.

As a computer science hopeful, this particular game holds enormous possibilities for not only enjoyment, but learning and innovation as well. However, as a college student, my budget is fairly limited, which means trying to get a video card installed on my laptop would be inconceivably expensive at this point (if I'd had my choice, I would've gotten a laptop with a built-in video card, but I had to settle for a very good price rather than exactly what I wanted), and my PC is rather aging at this point (only 900 MHz and 256MB RAM).

To cut my rambling short, I would simply like to know if experienced players/creators in this game believe the cost and effort of getting my PC up to snuff for a game such as this would be worth it for the reasons I've already mentioned. Considering the fairly minimal requirements for this game, I believe getting an adequate video card wouldn't present too much difficulty, but I would greatly appreciate some opinions before I rush out and throw money away on a video card I very well might only use for a single game, albeit one with such huge potential. Sorry for making this a much longer post than probably necessary and thank you for any suggestions you may have.

I'm not sure what sort of video card you have, but when I first hit SL, I was on a 1Ghz/256MB of RAM and a GeForce2-based system. As of this year, I'm on an FX-53/2GB RAM system, which lets me run multiple copies of the game without issue. It was painful at times, but it did give me an idea of what the place was like. It was also only $10, unlike long ago when I first heard of the place, so I figured $10 is $10 and I wasn't going to lose sleep over trying it out.

I'd suggest you try kludging your way through for a while until you either find it worth your time/budget constraints or not. Personally I'd not have upgraded for this game alone, but some people are different. I had other reasons for building what I got at the moment.

Considering I run on a fairly mid-cost PC, (1.4 ghz, 512 ram, $100 sound system, video card from yesteryear), I would say that Second Life can run, at minimum, on a system that will be fairly "doable" for a college student.

Furthermore, I would think it's worth the investment... but it really depends on what you want to take out of it. For example, many content creators and socialites love Second Life, but on the other hand, from a "game meant as a game" perspective, Second Life is still behind the times on what a "unified vision" production can achieve.

However, as Second Life grows, so does its potential to provide "fun" content to the would-be gaming consumer. We already have two MMORPG hopefuls in Second Life (Darklife and Simcast), several combat-oriented affairs, and plenty of smaller games to whet your appetite. Pirate Cotton's gaming wiki is a good place to start if you'd prefer something entertaining.

And welcome to Second Life!

SL will work on that PC... if it had a decent, preferrably nvidia-based graphics chip. Anything else is likely to be incompatible.
The thing about SL is that, since we build the world, we determine the load we put on the CPU/GPU. So your hardware specs depend heavily on how many objects and people you want to have around you.
I run SL on a 1333MHz Athlon from 2001 with 256 megs of RAM. It works great, since I'm a big old hermit of a scripter who will often only have to render a few cubes for his sky platform.
I'd say "investment" is the right word for it... If you're willing to learn and put a little work into SL, you can make all your money back by selling your items and cashing out your linden dollars at one of several online exchanges.

I've paid a heck of a lot into SecondLife and never regretted a penny.

I would say it's worth it, try it out, you'll be amazed!

I'd say it's absolutely worth upgrading. However, there are people active in SL who have comparable systems to yours. When I started, I had a system a little slower than yours. It wasn't pretty. It WAS useable, though. It's possible to enjoy SL on less.

If you're serious about upgrading, you could get an AMD Sempron 2400+ CPU, Asus A7N8X-X motherboard, GeForce FX5200 128MB video card and 512MB Samsung DDR400 RAM for around $250 US. You might be able to get a slightly cheaper deal if you bought a lower-quality motherboard or RAM, but you'll get a better deal in terms of price/performance/stability if you pay a little extra. I'd try to stick to quality brands for the motherboard and RAM, if you can. ASUS motherboards and Samsung RAM are both well worth the few extra dollars you'll pay. Also, depending on your existing computer, you might need to buy a new case and/or power supply to power it. You can get an acceptable case/PSU combo for around $50. Your existing drives and cards can all be reused.

If you want something a little speedier, you could still do an upgrade to something in the $500-$600 US range, which would be an insanely fast system. If you want sources and exact prices, let me know, I can recommend some specifics.

I would say DEFINATELY worth the investment.
I purchased a computer exclusivley to play SL.

Yup definately worth it, I have bought two PC's so far upgrading to continue to play but has well been worth it over the past two years.

Shadow

hahah yeah... I started out on unsupported Intel chip with a laptop and just about every feature turned off so that the client didn't crash. Even with that limited connection, I got hooked and broke down and got a 3ghz, 2GB RAM system, and a 256MB graphics card ... Would I have spent that money without SL? No. Was it worth it? Every penny. You really don't need that level of computing resources to enjoy SL but the performance is nice.

but Belaya's right. Try it out first, explore, and see what you think.

when i joined SL in november of 2003, the game was very slow for me, and i had a hard time getting around. randy said it would play better if i upgraded my computer. so off to the store we went, and we upgraded it. whoa, i didnt realize i would be able to see texture on the sand!! i still had some issues with movement, but i was ok with that.

being a hermit in SL, i didnt have any issues with lag because of being around a lot of people. a few times i tried going somewhere where there were lots of people, i froze up and had to reboot.

anyway, about halfway into my SL experience, randy couldnt stand my yacking about it anymore, and he joined. now he is hooked, but his computer is about the same as mine and he wanted more power. so off to the store again, and major upgrades on both machines, ouch my poor wallet. now the games play great, i am amazed at the difference. i cant tell you whats in our machines, im pretty much computer illiterate, but the graphics and movemnents are outstanding now.

so my advice, i'd upgrade. i've been in many virtual worlds, and by far, this is the most unlimiting, amazing game out there. you can be what ever you want to be here, no needing to be social (like tso), no killing anything, no levels to be thinking about , you just come here and let your imagination loose. every day we discover something new here, and long as members are free to do what they want, the possibilities of this world are endless.

but watch out.......what started as an initial $10 fee now costs me hundreds of dollars a month!!! (not complaining....i LOVE IT!!!!)

redd

Snarl, I also have never done a MMOG before SL because I have no interest in shooting at things or combat. I signed up for SL for the same reasons you did. I started with a basic membership for about 6 weeks before deciding that I was having a good enough time here for a serious commitment.

I also resisted the monthly fee idea and got around my reluctance by purchasing a year upfront, which is a total of $72 (bringing the monthly rate down to $6). The trick from there is to find a way to be happy with your 512m of First Land, a feat many of us have failed.

My advice to newbies is always to take one step at a time, based on how much time you spend in world and what you want to do here. You don't HAVE to go for a premium membership, you don't HAVE to own land, you don't HAVE to pay tier. You choose all of these things based on the pleasure that SL returns to you. If you are getting around in SL ok with your current system, you don't HAVE to upgrade it unless the better performance is worth it for you.

Yes, a lot of us end up upgrading our systems and buying large pieces of land so that we can increase our enjoyment of SL, but I would advise only making that commitment when you want those things so much that there no longer is any question of "should I" but a question of "how fast can I get this done" If you are uncertain, give it some more time.

I think of money invested in SL the same way I think of the bill for Cable/Satellite TV...how much you are willing to pay depends on how much entertainment enjoyment you get out it. Only you can decide if SL is worth it and provides the right mixture of value for enjoyment received.

Echo that. I think the two main variables affecting overall fps and client performance are memory and a killer graphics card. You can probably fudge on other components and still have a pretty decent experience.

I did the same thing. I started out just getting the game to help a friend and see it. I slowly but surely, got addicted to SL. I couldn't run the game on the laptop I had, which was only a year old..the graphics wouldn't support it. So I played on our desktop, my husband's computer. Needless to say, the addiction grew. His only recourse was to buy me a laptop for my birthday that would support the graphics of SL so he could get his game play time back.

But, yes...its worth EVERY penny

I'm sure you do, griefer-wit.

I don't have a lot of RL money, and I am an extreme cynic when it comes to the idea of actually making a profit here in SL, although I have no doubt that certain individuals do just that. However, when playing a game becomes a matter of winning or losing hundreds of pounds with business decisions, there has to come a point when it becomes less fun and just a stressful chore, almost like coming home from work to do more work.

Don't come into SL and expect it to be your path to riches - it won't be. After land use fees and internet charges are paid, any profits you make will be modest. On the computer side of things, I run SL satisfactorily (but not brilliantly) on a basic-spec Mac Mini with a 1.2Ghz G4, 256MB RAM and 32MB video (cost £339).

I vamped my computer TWICE to get it running just because I had extremely ugly SL withdrawals.. Worth it in my book.

If you are on a budget, then a boost to 512 MB RAM and an nVidia FX5700 would probably provide the most bang for buck on your existing system. If your motherboard supports faster CPU's then finding an old 1.2 GHz or whatever CPU, if possible, would help. In the end, with the cost of legacy memory cards climbing, and the difficulty in finding the older CPU's it might not be much more expensive to upgrade to the current liquidation hardware... 2GHz P4 with 266 MHz DDR RAM.

Snarl, alrighty! Welcome to Second Life... and now that these knowledgeable peeps have given you "da lowdown" on the technical aspects behind it, I believe you must really look within yourself and decide whether the human benefits outweigh the mechanical costs. It's sort of like a chasm you're going to have to leap, but in good faith, now that you know this. I have a good feeling what you're going to do, tho, so please do post and keep us updated on your SL adventures.

BTW you weren't rambling at all! That was really well-explained. And hey yuh, SL is a good deal. An "outright steal" as you put it. Rur rur!

i found 512mb more ddr and a 512mb video card is much more than i needed. i boosted my system a bit beyond than because i sometimes have msword open at the same time as sl.

No.

It's worth every penny you can scrimp and save

Even if you have go homeless and fly by wi-fi off some poorly guarded grid, well just migrate to where it's warm and live in SL!

You can buy food with the L$ you can start to gather once you're in.

Curse your helpful suggestions! After doing some research, I've come to the conclusion that I'm just going to have to save up and build a new computer. If I'm going to spend a couple hundred dollars upgrading a second-rate system, I may as well just go for the whole package and make I really get everything I want. It means I'll have to take my time getting into the Second Life world, but from I've seen I think it will definitely be worth my time and effort. Thanks for all the help!

That sounds inspiring, Snarl! I wonder what your Second Life will be like several months down the line. I hope it's an enjoyable one, in any case.

i've done that too... welcome to the club (soon)